


Disposita Nuptias

by lextenou



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Canon has been taken out back and shot, Casual Use of Bad Latin, F/F, Idiots in Love, True Love's Kiss, medieval politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 06:33:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13676232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lextenou/pseuds/lextenou
Summary: Oaths of fealty mean many things. To serve those to whom you have sworn, to protect those who cannot protect themselves, to accept those tasks which have been assigned to you. Mal is all too familiar with these charges and discharges them faithfully as befits a knight of her stature. The latest challenge, however, may serve her greatest one yet.





	Disposita Nuptias

**Author's Note:**

  * For [afterandalasia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afterandalasia/gifts).



> Disposita Nuptias: arranged marriage  
> Insulam - Island  
> Viduata Kari - bereft dear  
> Magus Lustrum - Enchanted Forest
> 
> Translations courtesy of awful googling.

Mal took a deep breath in through her nose and released it in a measured count through her slightly parted lips. She closed her eyes and focused intently on feeling the air that surrounded her, hearing the sounds of birds that swooped low over the gardens outside - even on the feel of rough stones beneath the leather that encased her feet. Each molecule of her body had to remain alert, attuned to the very energies that swirled around her. To do less would be to dishonor those who relied upon her.

Being raised as Viduata Kari brought with it many expectations. Some were inescapable, what with the history of Auradon and the Insulam. Infighting had long been the norm on the Insulam, given how long the blockade had lasted. Forced to survive off the scraps of Auradon's mercy, the inhabitants of the overcrowded island had done much with their falsely limited resources. Lost to the larger world, known only by few, their very existence was a whispered tale only told to keep the young ones in line. If they truly knew the extent of the lawlessness that ran rampant on Insulam, and the subsequent crucible that forged those such as Mal, it was not spoken of in polite society. 

Not until now. 

Mal opened her eyes and raised her head, her eyes sweeping up over her own reflection in the highly polished glass opposite. Her armor had similarly been polished to the best gleam it could afford in its heavily worn state. The dents had mostly been hammered out, at least. The bright crimson cloth embroidered through with silver, attached and flowing down from her pauldron, was the least of which her mother could have given her on the day of her earned knighthood. 

It could have been worse, Mal supposed. She could have been sent off at a young age as Evie had been. Banished from those she knew to be raised amongst strangers in the court as a ward of the Blue Fairy, kept close to the ruling families of Auradon to better keep the remnants of Insulam in line. So too had select others been banished to the opulence of Auradon, but none of the stature of Evie, now designated heir to the Magus Lustrum. Mal herself, though of noble enough blood, stood as heir to nothing. 

It had been a surprise then, for those designated as Viduata Kari to have been selected from the throng and brought to Auradon. It had been an adjustment the likes of which Mal had been all too familiar with in her life thus far. Something about Insulam made it all too simplistic for others to appropriate that which did not belong to them if they perceived that those that owned such a precious bauble were less than capable of defending it. Therefore it was observed by some of the many Auradon Guard who were ensconced on the island's perimeter that some upon Insulam were of fine fighting stock. That adroitness was summarily reported back to those who ruled over the lands of Auradon. 

Then was it decided that Mal and a select few of her brethren were to be taken as squires and allowed to vie for knighthood. To be sure, some grumblings were heard from amongst the inhabitants of Auradon - Viduata Kari, those ragamuffins? The very mud which is barely fit to be scraped off a boot? Those undeserving, allowed to vie for the honor of defending King and Country? 

The grumblings subsided the first time Mal stood to list. Thinking back on it even as she stood before a monumentous moment in her life, she could recall it as though it were happening again. 

A slight and slender figure, Mal's trim frame knocked about within the borrowed armor she wore. The straps chafed beneath her breast band, her cuirass barely fitting. As her opponent for the list was to be a stuffed straw effigy affixed with a swinging, weighted bag, the fit of the armor did not impede overmuch. It was a far sight more mobile than the time she'd been caught out by - 

The clap of a shouted order rang out across the listing fields and startled Mal into jerking her reins. A snort of impatience sounded from her temporary steed and she kicked the gelding into action. Within a few lengths, they were at speed and Mal raised her heavily nicked weapon, the dulled metal barely catching the light. An abrupt downswing brought it thudding against the heavily scarred paint of the shield that served as their target. With an abrupt twist in the saddle, she loosened the reins in her grip and angled her torso just enough to allow the bag to glide harmlessly by her shoulder. 

The stunned quiet of the spectators was broken abruptly by a harsh bark of laughter. Jay leaned against the wall, shaking his head with a brief smile. 

"Should have cut it."

Mal drew up the reins, slowing to a trot before the gathered Viduata Kari. "And let you miss out on the fun?" With a keen smirk, she slid from the saddle and handed the practice blade over. "Besides, you're the one who likes to show off with backflips."

Jay rolled his eyes at her and assumed his position in the saddle, ready for his tilt. Across the field, a young boy stared at her in wide eyed wonder. 

It was to be an expression that Mal and the others would become all too sickened by in the coming years. It wasn't helped by the others in their little band all getting hit by the bag on the first day, though only Harry had been knocked from his seat. His immediate springboard leap back up to his feet and the accompanying roar of annoyance cowed any laughter that might have been brewing from any but those from Insulam. 

The performance was repeated when they were tasked with their first sparring bouts. By that point, some had managed to find camaraderie with select few of the extant Guard who did not shy away in fear when they recognized them as Viduata Kari. So it was that the crowd gathered to watch their first hand to hand bouts numbered among them some of the nobility, leaning against the high parapets above the salle. 

Including Evie.

Mal shifted her weight and glared at the single thread that had worked its way loose from the doublet beneath her cuirass. Grasping a keenly sharpened knife, she liberated it from its attachment then surveyed herself once again. 

She still did not look fit to stand in Evie's presence. 

With a sigh, she dropped into one of the plush chairs that were the norm in Auradon castle. It had truly been that day years hence that had started her on this path. It was then that Evie had first caught sight of her again. She was certain she'd looked ever so blessedly dashing, coated as she'd been from head to toe in the dust of the salle. Her initial bout against a Guard that she'd grown passing comfortable with since their arrival had seen them both well dusted. Though a mite prissy in bearing, which seemed odd for a Guard, Audrey was no shrinking violet. Her fighting tactics bordered on the dirty, a challenge to which Mal greatly enjoyed the rising. She'd managed to knock the Guard from her feet with an abrupt grapple and throw, the dust of the salle rising briefly around them before settling. Audrey had raised her hands, prone still, and cried out her yield in a clear, albeit breathless, voice. Mal had then raised her sharp gaze to sweep over those who had deigned to visit and observe them. 

Her very breath had arrested upon her first sighting of those svelte curves, just slightly outside the trend of current court fashion. The mores of the day dictated the lines of the dress of all those that surrounded her, but Evie, standing bright and holding one hand before her mouth, did not adhere to their dictates. The flare of her skirt stood stark counterpoint to the downright drab drapery of those gathered around her, and the resonant coloring outshone all but their liege. Next to her, a simpering youth leaned in and she waved him off, her gaze never tearing from that of Mal's own. 

Mal dipped her head in a brief show of respect and returned to her duties. 

Had they been back on Insulam, none of these fripperies would be a concern. They would not be ensconced in the situation which they now found themselves, and they would neither find themselves with no recourse but to follow through. 

Mal rubbed one hand against her face, inhaling deeply. 

The day she'd earned her knighthood had been the only one to equal this in nerves, though that had likely been more to do with not being given leave to sleep the night previous. The feast afterward had been worth it, she supposed, though she had felt the full belted wallop from the cook had been unnecessarily harsh. 

She'd long since given herself over to the cause. Not the mundane cause of King of Country - no, her cause lay with those whom she stood shoulder to shoulder with upon the field, in the dim alleyways of Auradon, those whom sought to bring some measure of peace and order to their lands. 

The door to the chamber opened with a quiet groan of wood scraping against wood. Mal stood, her bearing straight as she waited for her visitor to make themselves known.

The aged head that poked in was one which she had grown accustomed to seeing over the years she'd spent about the castle. Bright, twinkling eyes hidden behind wire framed glasses sparkled with a spry mischief that many attributed his longevity to, though he would be first to attribute it to continually being around the youth of Auradon. 

"'Tis time. Are you ready?" 

Mal dipped her head. "As ever, my lord."

Shaking his head, Baron Gepetto swung the door open wider. "You only get away with that for today, fledgling." He waited just outside the door, his stooped shoulders betraying just how heavily the years weighed upon him since the loss of his son. "Soon enough I'll be the one reciting your title."

Mal gave a brief snort. "I'll still be me." 

The Baron gave a short hum of acquiescence. "An ennobled you."

"A married me."

Mal dipped her head in acknowledgment to the Guards which stood sentry outside the broad door that marked the entrance to the Grand Hall. They withdrew their halberds from their position blocking the door and knocked the flagstones with them in rhythmic staccato. The door opened from within and Mal stepped through.

The streamers that flew from the balustrades fluttered in the calm air, birds flying in long, gentle swoops overhead. Near the dais, Mal spotted the Blue Fairy. With sure feet which testified falsehood to the nerves the fluttered within her belly, Mal strode forward, each step taking her along the rich red carpet. She drew to a halt before the Blue Fairy, giving the customary half bow which had been drilled into her during her training. The Blue Fairy gave a nod and the music, softly plucked strings below the murmur of idle conversation, swelled loud enough to turn all heads to view the double doors at the main entrance of the Grand Hall. 

The doors opened with a quiet slide - though if they weren't quiet, it would not be something any within the Grand Hall would be able to attest to regardless, given the boost of volume that the Blue Fairy had given to the musicians. Mal stood and waited, her breath held lest she begin shaking. 

"Do remember to breathe, dear." The quietly amused words of the Blue Fairy were murmured close to her shoulder and Mal nearly startled forward at the sound of them. She drew in a shaky breath and stiffened her spine. 

It would not do to meet her bride at less than her best. 

Mal was glad of the Blue Fairy's reminder as Evie came into sudden view, a vision spied through the crowd. Throughout their courtship, Mal had seen her in numerous bits of couture, though to be sure, none bore the significance of this one. She had wondered whether the woman would be attired in the stark colors she so frequently bore, or whether her chosen attire would be more adherent to the mores of tradition.

What she saw before her was instead a mix of the two, as though Evie had taken tradition and infused it with her own personality. Mal had taken in the sight, a trembling sigh emerging as she spied the form of her bride but it was not that sight which captured her. It was the broad smile that seemed near to splitting Evie's face. 

Mal could not recall ever seeing a smile so shining with happiness. 

Happiness that she was walking steadily toward Mal, the one to whom she was promised by King and Country, that their union might serve some larger purpose. The amassed throng that stood to bear witness to their union attested to the popularity amongst the people of their union, though Mal would be hard pressed to puzzle out why. Both she and Evie were from Insulam, why should their union be couched in such glowing terms and viewed such as to afford them such opulence? 

"We gather here before friends and family..."

Mal did not heed much the words being spoken to the crowd before them. Evie had slid her hand within Mal's own and squeezed slightly. It was akin to the first walk they had taken through the gardens, back at the start of their courting, back when Mal was freshly back at court. They had idly meandered through the moon drenched gardens, talking quietly of idle topics before Evie had turned to her with a grin that bordered on the wicked. 

The impromptu wade in the low ponds of the gardens had thoroughly ruined her jerkin. 

Not that she'd cared. 

Rote questions were heard with half minded attention and the proscribed response was given with the quietly voiced gravitas demanded of the occasion. Before her, quiet tears tracked unheeded down Evie's cheeks, though she gave her answers with a firm, unwavering voice. 

Mal drew in a shaking breath as the speech drew to a close. It felt like the words would never come. 

Then all too quickly, the moment arrived. 

"You may now kiss the bride."

Somber and spoken with a peculiar sort of gravitas, the final words intoned were such that Mal nearly stumbled. Taking a quick breath, she leaned forward, her hands still clutching desperately at those of her bride. 

It had been a peculiar insistence of their courtship that they be chaperoned at all times. Though twitchy at some of their more risque shenanigans, no effort had been embarked upon to prevent them from growing closer. Naught but that they be purely chaste in their interaction. 

Here then, before King and Country, did they have their first kiss. 

The broad rippling of magic that erupted from them drew gasps and cheers from the crowd, though neither of them heeded it, wrapped up as they were in the new sensation. Chaste though it remained, the impact of knowing that she was kissing her wife served to strike a blow sharper than any Mal had received in her life.

Mal drew back, blinking in stupefaction at the unexpected swell within her chest.

Oh.

So that was why they had been betrothed.


End file.
